Combat Press MMA Rankings: Nov. 21, 2016

As MMA continues to grow its presence with the UFC, Bellator MMA, WSOF and ONE FC, fighters are constantly jockeying for position in the eyes (and rankings) of the media.

Every week, Combat Press will rank each weight class from heavyweight to flyweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings (including both genders).

Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from last week.

Heavyweight

Stipe Miocic (1)

Fabricio Werdum (2)

Cain Velasquez (3)

Alistair Overeem (4)

Junior dos Santos (5)

Brock Lesnar (6)

Ben Rothwell (7)

Josh Barnett (8)

Mark Hunt (9)

Travis Browne (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Light Heavyweight

Jon Jones (1)

Daniel Cormier (2)

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (3)

Alexander Gustafsson (4)

Phil Davis (5)

Glover Teixeira (6)

Ryan Bader (7)

Jimi Manuwa (8)

Ovince Saint Preux (9)

Liam McGeary (10)

The main event of UFC Fight Night 100 between Ryan Bader and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira may not have been the fight that fans were clamoring for in the 205-pound division, but Bader took care of business, stopping the Brazilian by TKO. The pair had met previously at UFC 119, with Bader winning by decision. Despite the more definitive results, Bader remains in the No. 7 spot in the rankings.

Middleweight

Michael Bisping (1)

Yoel Romero (2)

Luke Rockhold (3)

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (4)

Chris Weidman (5)

Lyoto Machida (6)

Gegard Mousasi (9)

Derek Brunson (7)

Anderson Silva (8)

Robert Whittaker (10)

UFC Fight Night 99 was also highlighted by a rematch, as Gegard Mousasi took on Uriah Hall. Mousasi battered Hall to earn a stoppage win and exact revenge. He climbs to No. 7 in the rankings with the victory.

Welterweight

Tyron Woodley (1)

Stephen Thompson (1)

Robbie Lawler (3)

Demian Maia (4)

Carlos Condit (5)

Ben Askren (6)

Rory MacDonald (7)

Kelvin Gastelum (8)

Jake Ellenberger (9)

Donald Cerrone (10)/Dong Hyun Kim (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Lightweight

Conor McGregor (1)

Khabib Nurmagomedov (2)

Tony Ferguson (3)

Eddie Alvarez (4)

Rafael dos Anjos (5)

Edson Barboza (6)

Nate Diaz (7)

Justin Gaethje (8)

Will Brooks (9)

Michael Chandler (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Michael Johnson (10)

Bellator 165 was headlined by a lightweight title match-up between Michael Chandler and former UFC titleholder Benson Henderson. The pair battled hard for five rounds, but Chandler was able to retain his title. The win moves Chandler back into the top 10, pushing Michael Johnson out of the rankings.

Featherweight

Conor McGregor (1)

José Aldo (2)

Frankie Edgar (3)

Max Holloway (4)

Chad Mendes (5)

Anthony Pettis (6)

Ricardo Lamas (7)

Cub Swanson (8)

Charles Oliveira (9)

Daniel Straus (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Bantamweight

Dominick Cruz (1)

T.J. Dillashaw (2)

Bibiano Fernandes (3)

Cody Garbrandt (4)

John Lineker (5)

Marlon Moraes (6)

Jimmie Rivera (7)

Urijah Faber (8)

Raphael Assuncao (9)

Eduardo Dantas (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Flyweight

Demetrious Johnson (1)

Joseph Benavidez (2)

Henry Cejudo (3)

Kyoji Horiguchi (6)

Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (4)

Zach Makovsky (5)

Wilson Reis (7)

Dustin Ortiz (8)

Matheus Nicolau (9)

John Moraga (10)

Although flyweight king Demetrious Johnson’s next fight will be against The Ultimate Fighter 24 winner, the next challenger is likely to be Japan’s Kyoji Horiguchi. The 26-year-old took out Ali Bagautinov at UFC Fight Night 99 to earn his third straight win since falling to Johnson in early 2015.

Pound-For-Pound

Demetrious Johnson (1)

Jon Jones (2)

Daniel Cormier (3)

Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (4)

Conor McGregor (5)

Dominick Cruz (6)

Joanna Jędrzejczyk (7)

Stipe Miocic (8)

José Aldo (9)

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this week, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last 18 months. Any fighter that chooses to switch weight classes will be ranked in their previous weight class until they have competed in their new division.

About The Author

Rob Tatum has been covering combat sports since 2009. His work has appeared on InvictaFC.com, The MMA Corner, Bleacher Report MMA, MMA DieHards and MMAinterviews. Prior to covering combat sports, Rob ran his own music website from 2002-2009. Beyond his writing, Rob has trained in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. He is a Colorado native that works as a mechanical engineer during the day. In his free time, Rob enjoys watching sports, playing music and working on cars.